NASA has entered into a fixed-price, blanket purchase agreement with GeoOptics, Inc. of Pasadena, California, to provide their radio occultation satellite data products for evaluation. This purchase is part of ongoing efforts by NASA’s Commercial SmallSat Data Acquisition (CSDA) program to identify, evaluate, and acquire commercial satellite data that may augment or complement NASA Earth science observations.
Under this agreement, GeoOptics will provide its commercial radio occultation data products to be evaluated. GeoOptics operates a constellation of nanosatellites in low Earth orbit equipped with Global Navigation Satellite System/Global Positioning System Radio Occultation sensors. These sensors collect data for calculating temperature, pressure, and other qualities of the atmosphere. The data have a range of uses, including Earth and space weather forecasting and studying the effects of climate change.
The GeoOptics radio occultation data are being acquired as part of CSDA’s On-Ramp #3. The ongoing on-ramp process identifies and assesses the utility of commercial SmallSat data in achieving goals and objectives related to the NASA Earth Science Division’s Research and Analysis and Applied Sciences Programs. CSDA is a component of NASA’s Earth Science Data Systems (ESDS) Program and was established in 2017 to acquire data from commercial sources that support the agency’s Earth science research and application goals.